U.S. Postal Service letter carrier Christina Davis-Brown and her son, Dylan, 8, collect food and leave thank-you notes in Novi May 9 during the Stamp Out Hunger food drive in Novi.
By: Charity Meier | Novi Note | Published May 23, 2026
U.S. Postal Service letter carrier Christina Davis-Brown spent her day off on Saturday, May 9, collecting food for people in need and teaching her son about the importance of helping others.
Davis-Brown, 31, has participated in the annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive put on by the National Association of Letter Carriers for many years. So, since she had the day off this year, she came in anyway to help and brought her son, Dylan.
“Since I am the mail lady and I have been doing this for about seven years, I do feel a special tie to our food drive and just how much of a difference it makes in people's lives,” Davis-Brown said.
She said it is very important for her to help with the food drive, as she was once a child who was helped by the operation.
“So, it means a lot to me. It means a lot to me that we help out with the food drive,” she said. “I also have my son; every year, we help out with back-to-school things. So, we’re always trying to do something for the community.”
Dylan, 8, said that he thinks it is important to help people in need “so they can live a great life.” However, he admitted he was “voluntold” to assist his mom in collecting cans and other nonperishable items from customers on her Novi route during the food drive.
“I didn’t really have a choice,” Dylan said of his reason for helping his mom with the food drive.
“Good. I’m glad he realizes that he doesn’t have a choice,” Davis-Brown said. “He does not have a choice, because when it comes to giving back when you are fortunate, I don’t want that to be a choice of spreading your fortunes. Especially when it’s something as small as time. You can always give your time, and that’s something that I’m trying to teach my son, that you might not always want to do something, but sometimes you do it just because it’s right or you do it because it’s going to help somebody. You don’t even have to know the person, but you want to be a good person; that’s how good things come, and you know you got to pay it forward. You never know when you’re going to be in that position or if you’ll ever be in that position.”
Davis-Brown said that every year she sees a lot of support for the food drive throughout the community.
“There’s something about giving that just brings joy to people,” she said.
Susan Erspamer, director of Hospitality House in Commerce Township, a food pantry without borders, said that it is not uncommon to see people who have experienced food insecurity at one point in their lives return to help others in need.
“I always applaud parents, guardians or grandparents who are teaching their children or grandchildren the value of volunteering and teaching the next generation to give and lift up others and give back to the community. It’s a wonderful thing,” Erspamer said.
She said that they have students come to the pantry to help others or for a field trip, and they learn not only the value of helping others, but that it is OK to ask for help when you need it.
She said that this is important because there are a lot of people who are afraid to ask for help because of the stigma associated with it.
“There is stigma about coming to food banks,” Erspamer said. “We’re just constantly trying to get the word out and encourage people to come in. That is what we’re here for.”
Dylan said it felt good to help people.
“When I help people, they turn happy, so we can all be happy,” he said.
The Walled Lake post office collected 10,344 pounds of food this year, which is considerably down from last year, according to Kevin “Ohio” Walker, of the Walled Lake post office. He said that donations were down across the board this year.